By Issah Mohammed, GNA
Accra, Oct. 16, GNA – Mr John Awuah, Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Association of Banks, has urged financial institutions to share fraud intelligence in real time to stop suspicious transactions before customers lose their money.
He said delays in sharing information allowed fraudsters to move stolen funds across financial institutions and digital platforms before suspicious transactions were detected.
“Most of the fraud activities or fraudulent activities that have gone on and been successful and sometimes with zero recovery have been that, it happened and by the time the next player in the institution got awareness, well, they are two days down the line,” he said at the 15th ABSA-UPSA Law School Quarterly Banking Roundtable in Accra
The roundtable was held on the theme: “Financial Services Fraud in the Era of Telephony Banking: Who Bears Liability and the Responsibility to Protect?”
Mr Awuah said financial institutions needed stronger cooperation because fraudsters shared intelligence more effectively than those seeking to stop them.
“One thing, the fraudsters share a lot of information and intelligence.
“Banks have to be upfront with the PSPs, PSPs must be upfront with the banks. We don’t have to protect ourselves from ourselves,” he said.
Mr Awuah said timely information sharing would help institutions identify suspicious transactions and intervene before funds became difficult to recover.
He also called for a coordinated public education campaign to help customers recognise fraud attempts, saying a unified industry approach could be more effective than separate messages from individual institutions.
Mr Moses Tetteh, Senior Manager for Financial Crimes at Mobile Money Fintech Limited, said digital financial fraud often involved the theft of personal information or account credentials, manipulation of victims and the transfer of funds across platforms.
He said prompt reporting was critical because service providers could alert other institutions and attempt to stop transfers or recover the money.
“When an incident happens, it is necessary for you to quickly change your PIN,” he said.
Mr Tetteh said the affected provider should alert other institutions if investigations showed that funds had been transferred to their platforms.
Mr Nana Addo Ampem-Darko of Absa Bank Ghana Limited’s Fraud Detection function said institutions needed effective monitoring systems and public education to counter fraudsters who exploited customer trust to obtain passwords and authentication codes.
He said disputed transactions should be investigated to establish whether appropriate security controls had been applied, rather than automatically attributing losses to customers.
Mr Eric Bodzie Cab-Beyuo, Head of the Bank of Ghana’s Fraud Investigation Unit, called for thorough investigations, cooperation with law enforcement agencies and the prosecution of perpetrators.
He said institutions needed to trace stolen funds and strengthen recovery efforts while ensuring that fraud attracted meaningful consequences.
GNA
Edited by Kenneth Sackey
16 Oct. 2026
Reporter: Issah Mohammed